Maggie's Farm

The sparrows and wrens seem to have made it through the cold snap, as did the blue jays and cardinals. Alas, the goldfinches were hard hit; I haven't seen one this week, except for one that tried to shelter in my rock wall. I discovered him today. The dogs were doing a lot of investigative sniffing along the wall last week and I figured it was the songbirds trying to use it for shelter.

There are many designs out there for roosting boxes. I wasn't familiar with them before, but with a little ingenuity, a woodcrafter can make a dual purpose bird box that can provide nesting space in season, and be converted to a roosting box for the winter months. If the birds can find a sheltered place to huddle together, they can preserve their warmth and survive. Didn't know that they would do this! I always thought they just prefer the brush. But now I have another project for the coming months. We kept a lot of birds fed and alive last week, but I wish I had had some roosting boxes to offer them protected shelter.